Came out east and joined (7)
I believe the answer is:
emerged
'came out' is the definition.
('emerge' can be a synonym of 'come out')
'east and joined' is the wordplay.
'east' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'joined' becomes 'merged' (I've seen this in another clue).
'e'+'merged'='EMERGED'
(Other definitions for emerged that I've seen before include "Came forth" , "Came into view or became apparent" , "Came out, became known" , "Transpired" , "Slowly came out" .)