Understands and gets together (7)
I believe the answer is:
gathers
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'understands' is the first definition.
('gather' can be a synonym of 'understand')
'gets together' is the second definition.
('gather' can be a synonym of 'get together')
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for gathers that I've seen before include "The rags (anag.)" , "Collects in one place" , "Assembles" , "Harvests" , "Part of dress" .)