No children, there’s no way out (9)

'out' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'no children there's no way' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'children' could be 'issue' (I've seen this before) and 'issue' is located in the answer.
'way' could be 's' (Compass direction - South) and 's' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'les' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?