The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Issue \Is"sue\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Issued ([i^]sh"[-u]d); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Issuing.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. To pass or flow out; to run out, as from any inclosed
      place.
      [1913 Webster]

            From it issued forced drops of blood. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To go out; to rush out; to sally forth; as, troops issued
      from the town, and attacked the besiegers.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To proceed, as from a source; as, water issues from
      springs; light issues from the sun.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To proceed, as progeny; to be derived; to be descended; to
      spring.
      [1913 Webster]

            Of thy sons that shall issue from thee. --2 Kings
                                                  xx. 18.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To extend; to pass or open; as, the path issues into the
      highway.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. To be produced as an effect or result; to grow or accrue;
      to arise; to proceed; as, rents and profits issuing from
      land, tenements, or a capital stock.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. To close; to end; to terminate; to turn out; as, we know
      not how the cause will issue.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. (Law) In pleading, to come to a point in fact or law, on
      which the parties join issue.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Issue \Is"sue\ ([i^]sh"[-u]), n. [OF. issue, eissue, F. issue,
   fr. OF. issir, eissir, to go out, L. exire; ex out of, from +
   ire to go, akin to Gr. 'ie`nai, Skr. i, Goth. iddja went,
   used as prefect of gaggan to go. Cf. Ambition, Count a
   nobleman, Commence, Errant, Exit, Eyre, Initial,
   Yede went.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The act of passing or flowing out; a moving out from any
      inclosed place; egress; as, the issue of water from a
      pipe, of blood from a wound, of air from a bellows, of
      people from a house.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The act of sending out, or causing to go forth; delivery;
      issuance; as, the issue of an order from a commanding
      officer; the issue of money from a treasury.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which passes, flows, or is sent out; the whole
      quantity sent forth or emitted at one time; as, an issue
      of bank notes; the daily issue of a newspaper.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Progeny; a child or children; offspring. In law,
      sometimes, in a general sense, all persons descended from
      a common ancestor; all lineal descendants.
      [1913 Webster]

            If the king
            Should without issue die.             --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Produce of the earth, or profits of land, tenements, or
      other property; as, A conveyed to B all his right for a
      term of years, with all the issues, rents, and profits.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. A discharge of flux, as of blood. --Matt. ix. 20.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Med.) An artificial ulcer, usually made in the fleshy
      part of the arm or leg, to produce the secretion and
      discharge of pus for the relief of some affected part.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. The final outcome or result; upshot; conclusion; event;
      hence, contest; test; trial.
      [1913 Webster]

            Come forth to view
            The issue of the exploit.             --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            While it is hot, I 'll put it to the issue. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. A point in debate or controversy on which the parties take
      affirmative and negative positions; a presentation of
      alternatives between which to choose or decide; a point of
      contention; a matter in controversy.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

   10. (Law) In pleading, a single material point of law or fact
       depending in the suit, which, being affirmed on the one
       side and denied on the other, is presented for
       determination. See General issue, under General, and
       Feigned issue, under Feigned. --Blount. Cowell.
       [1913 Webster]

   At issue, in controversy; disputed; opposing or contesting;
      hence, at variance; disagreeing; inconsistent.
      [1913 Webster]

            As much at issue with the summer day
            As if you brought a candle out of doors. --Mrs.
                                                  Browning.


   Bank of issue, Collateral issue, etc. See under Bank,
      Collateral, etc.

   Issue pea, a pea, or a similar round body, used to maintain
      irritation in a wound, and promote the secretion and
      discharge of pus.

   To join issue, or To take issue, to take opposing sides
      in a matter in controversy.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Issue \Is"sue\ ([i^]sh"[-u]), v. t.
   1. To send out; to put into circulation; as, to issue notes
      from a bank.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To deliver for use; as, to issue provisions.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To send out officially; to deliver by authority; as, to
      issue an order; to issue a writ.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

issue
    n 1: an important question that is in dispute and must be
         settled; "the issue could be settled by requiring public
         education for everyone"; "politicians never discuss the
         real issues"
    2: one of a series published periodically; "she found an old
       issue of the magazine in her dentist's waiting room" [syn:
       issue, number]
    3: some situation or event that is thought about; "he kept
       drifting off the topic"; "he had been thinking about the
       subject for several years"; "it is a matter for the police"
       [syn: topic, subject, issue, matter]
    4: the act of providing an item for general use or for official
       purposes (usually in quantity); "a new issue of stamps"; "the
       last issue of penicillin was over a month ago" [syn: issue,
       issuing, issuance]
    5: supplies (as food or clothing or ammunition) issued by the
       government [syn: issue, military issue, government
       issue]
    6: the income or profit arising from such transactions as the
       sale of land or other property; "the average return was about
       5%" [syn: return, issue, take, takings, proceeds,
       yield, payoff]
    7: a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous
       phenomenon; "the magnetic effect was greater when the rod was
       lengthwise"; "his decision had depressing consequences for
       business"; "he acted very wise after the event" [syn:
       consequence, effect, outcome, result, event,
       issue, upshot]
    8: the immediate descendants of a person; "she was the mother of
       many offspring"; "he died without issue" [syn: offspring,
       progeny, issue]
    9: the becoming visible; "not a day's difference between the
       emergence of the andrenas and the opening of the willow
       catkins" [syn: emergence, egress, issue]
    10: an opening that permits escape or release; "he blocked the
        way out"; "the canyon had only one issue" [syn: exit,
        issue, outlet, way out]
    11: the act of issuing printed materials [syn: issue,
        publication]
    v 1: prepare and issue for public distribution or sale; "publish
         a magazine or newspaper" [syn: publish, bring out, put
         out, issue, release]
    2: circulate or distribute or equip with; "issue a new uniform
       to the children"; "supply blankets for the beds" [syn:
       issue, supply] [ant: recall]
    3: bring out an official document (such as a warrant)
    4: come out of; "Water issued from the hole in the wall"; "The
       words seemed to come out by themselves" [syn: issue,
       emerge, come out, come forth, go forth, egress]
    5: make out and issue; "write out a check"; "cut a ticket";
       "Please make the check out to me" [syn: write out, issue,
       make out, cut]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

580 Moby Thesaurus words for "issue":
   accomplishment, accord, activity, administer, affair, afford,
   airing, allot, allow, announce, answer, appear, argue, arise,
   artifact, ascertainment, at issue, attend, award, back number,
   bail out, bandying, basis, be born, be off, become,
   become manifest, become of, become public, become visible,
   bench mark, bestow, bestow on, bestrew, birth, bone of contention,
   book, brainchild, break, break cover, break forth, break out,
   break through, breakout, breed, bring out, broadcast, broadcasting,
   brood, bruiting, bruiting about, burden, burst forth, buzz about,
   by-product, campaign, cardinal point, case, catechism, cause,
   chapter, chief thing, child, children, circulate, circulation,
   circumfuse, clearing up, climax, coinage, collection, come,
   come about, come after, come forth, come forward, come in sight,
   come of, come out, come to be, come to hand, come to light,
   commitment, communicate, composition, concern, conclusion,
   concoction, confer, consequence, consequent, consummation, contend,
   controversy, copy, core, cornerstone, corollary, course, cracking,
   creation, creature, crisis, critical point, crop out, crop up,
   cross-interrogatory, cross-question, crowning achievement, crusade,
   crux, culmination, daughters, deal, deal out, debating point,
   debouch, debouchment, decipherment, declaration of policy, declare,
   decoding, deliver, deliverance, delivery, demand, demonetize,
   denouement, derivation, derivative, descendants, descent,
   determination, devaluate, devalue, develop, development, diffract,
   diffuse, diffusion, disagree, disburse, discharge, disembogue,
   disentanglement, dish out, dispense, disperse, displace, display,
   dispose, dispread, dispute, disseminate, dissemination, distillate,
   distillation, distribute, distribution, diverge, dole, dole out,
   donate, drive, ebb, edition, effect, efflux, effuse, egress,
   emanate, emanation, emerge, emergence, emersion, emission, emit,
   end, end product, end result, engrave, ensue, enter, erupt, escape,
   escapism, essence, essential, essential matter, evasion, event,
   eventuality, eventuate, eventuation, evulgation, exit, explanation,
   extend, extract, extrication, extrude, extrusion, fade in, faith,
   fall out, family, fan out, fare, feeler, fight, find vent, finding,
   finding-out, flight, float, flood, flotation, flow, flow back,
   flow in, flow out, flush, fly about, focus of attention,
   focus of interest, folks, follow, follow after, follow up,
   fork out, freeing, fruit, fundamental, get, get about, get abroad,
   get afloat, get around, get exposure, get off, get out, get to be,
   getaway, gift, gift with, gist, give, give forth, give freely,
   give off, give out, go about, go after, go forth, go public,
   go the rounds, grandchildren, grant, gravamen, great cause,
   great point, great-grandchildren, gush, hand out, handiwork,
   harvest, have currency, have origin, head, heading, heap, heart,
   hearth, heave in sight, hectograph, heirs, help to, high point,
   homefolks, hostages to fortune, house, household, impart,
   important thing, impress, impression, imprint, in dispute,
   inheritors, inquiry, interest, interpretation, interrogation,
   interrogative, interrogatory, invention, irrupt, issuance,
   issue forth, issue stock, issuing, jailbreak, jump out, kernel,
   keynote address, keynote speech, keystone, kids, landmark, lavish,
   leader, leading question, leak, leak out, leakage, legacy,
   let have, liberation, library, library edition, lifework, lineage,
   little ones, living issue, logical outcome, look forth, loom,
   main point, main thing, make, manufacture, mass movement,
   masterpiece, masterwork, material point, materialize, matter,
   matter in hand, measure out, meat, menage, mete, mete out,
   milestone, mimeograph, mintage, moot point, motif, motive,
   movement, multigraph, new generation, new mintage, nub, number,
   nut, offer, offshoot, offspring, ooze out, opera, oppose, opus,
   opuscule, originate, origination, outcome, outcrop, outflow,
   outgoing, outgrowth, outlet, outset, outstart, overprint,
   overscatter, oversow, overspread, overtake, pan out, parcel out,
   party platform, pass around, pay out, peep out, people, periodical,
   pith, pivot, plank, platform, point, point at issue,
   point in question, portion out, posterity, pour, precipitate,
   present, principle, print, printing, prisonbreak, problem, proceed,
   proclaim, proclamation, product, production, proffer, progeniture,
   progeny, program, promulgate, promulgation, proof, propagate,
   propagation, protrude, prove, prove to be, publication, publish,
   publishing, pull, pull a proof, put forth, put out, put to bed,
   put to press, query, question, question at issue, question mark,
   quodlibet, radiate, rain, real issue, rear its head, reason,
   reason for being, regurgitate, reissue, release, remonetize,
   render, replace, reprint, rescue, resolution, resolving, result,
   resultant, retail, revalue, riddance, riddling, rise,
   rising generation, rubric, run out, rush, salient point, sally,
   sally forth, scatter, school edition, scions, see the light, seed,
   send forth, sequel, sequela, sequence, sequent, series, serve, set,
   set forth, set forward, set off, set out, setting-free, shell out,
   show, show up, shower, sine qua non, slip, snow, solution, solving,
   sons, sorting out, sow, sow broadcast, splay, spoon out, spread,
   spread about, spread like wildfire, spread out, spreading,
   spreading abroad, spring, spring up, stamp, start, start off,
   start out, stem, stock issue, stream, stream forth, strew, strike,
   strike out, strike the eye, subject, subject matter,
   subject of thought, substance, substantive point, succeed,
   succession, supervene, surface, surfacing, surge, surge back,
   take birth, take exception, take issue, take rise, telecasting,
   tender, terminate, text, the bottom line, the point, theme,
   throw off, topic, track, trade book, trade edition, trail,
   treasures, trend, trial balloon, turn out, turn up, turning point,
   uncertain, unfold, unraveling, unresolved, unriddling,
   unscrambling, unsettled, unspinning, untangling, untwisting,
   unweaving, upshot, utter, vent, ventilation, version,
   vexed question, volume, vouchsafe, work, work out, working,
   working-out, yield, young, younglings, youngsters



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ISSUE, kindred. This term is of very extensive import, in its most enlarged
signification, and includes all persons who have descended from a common
ancestor. 17 Ves. 481; 19. Ves. 547; 3 Ves. 257; 1 Rop. Leg. 88 and see
Wilmot's Notes, 314, 321. But when this word is used in a will, in order to
give effect to the testator's intention it will be construed in a more
restricted sense than its legal import conveys. 7 Ves. 522; 19 Ves. 73; 1
Rop. Leg. 90. Vide Bac. Ab. Curtesy of England, D; 8 Com. Dig. 473; and
article Legatee, II. Sec. 4.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ISSUE, pleading. An issue, in pleading, is defined to be a single, certain
and material point issuing out of the allegations of the parties, and
consisting, regularly, of an affirmative and negative. In common parlance,
issue also signifies the entry of the pleadings. 1 Chit. Pl. 630.
     2. Issues are material when properly formed on some material point,
which will decide the question in dispute between the parties; and
immaterial, when formed on some immaterial fact, which though found by the
verdict will not determine the merits of the cause, and would leave the
court at a loss how to give judgment. 2 Saund. 319, n. 6.
     3. Issues are also divided into issues in law and issues in fact. 1. An
issue in law admits all the facts and rests simply upon a question of, law.
It is said to consist of a single point, but by this it must be understood
that such issue involves, necessarily, only a single rule or principle of
law, or that it brings into question the legal sufficiency of a single fact
only. It is meant that such an issue reduces the whole controversy to the
single question, whether the facts confessed by the issue are sufficient in
law to maintain the action or defence of the party who alleged them. 2. An
issue in fact, is one in which the parties disagree as to their existence,
one affirming they exist, and the other denying it. By the common law, every
issue in fact, subject to some exceptions, which are noticed below, must
consist of a direct affirmative allegation on the one side, and of a direct
negative on the other. Co. Litt. 126, a; Bac. Ab. Pleas, &c. G 1; 5 Pet.
149; 2 Black. R. 1312; 8 T. R. 278. But it has been holden that when the
defendant pleaded that he was born in France, and the plaintiff replied that
he was born in England, it was sufficient to form a good issue. 1 Wils. 6; 2
Str. 1177. In this case, it will be observed, there were two affirmatives,
and the ground upon which the issue was holden to be good is that the second
affirmative is so contrary to the first, that the first cannot in any degree
be true. The exceptions above mentioned to the rule that a direct
affirmative and a direct negative are required, are the following: 1st. The
general issue upon a writ of right is formed by two affirmatives: the
demandant, on one side, avers that he has greater right than the tenant;
and, on the other, that the tenant has a greater right than the demandant.
This issue is called the mise. (q. v.) Lawes, Pl. 232; 3 Chit. Pl. 652: 3
Bl. Com. 195, 305. 2d. In an action of dower, the court merely demands the
third part of acres of land, &c., as the dower of the demandant of the
endowment of A B, heretofore the husband, &c., and the general issue is,
that A B was not seised of such estate, &c., and that he could not endow the
demandant thereof, &c. 2 Saund. 329, 330. This mode of negation, instead of
being direct, is merely argumentative, and argumentativeness is not
generally allowed in pleading.
     4. Issues in fact are divided into general issues, special issues, and
common issues.
     5. The general issue denies in direct terms the whole declaration; as
in personal actions, where the defendant pleads nil debet, that he owes the
plaintiff nothing; or non culpabilis, that he is not guilty of the facts
alleged in the declaration; or in real actions, where the defendant pleads
nul tort, no wrong done or nul disseisin, no disseisin committed. These
pleas, and the like, are called general issues, because, by importing an
absolute and general denial of all the matters alleged in the declaration,
they at once put them all in issue.
     6. Formerly the general issue was seldom pleaded, except where the
defendant meant wholly to deny the charge alleged against him for when he
meant to avoid and justify the charge, it was usual for him to set forth the
particular ground of his defence as, a special plea, which appears to have
been necessary' to apprize the court and the plaintiff of the particular
nature and circumstances of the defendant's case, and was originally
intended to keep the law and the fact distinct. And even now it is an
invariable rule, that every defence which cannot be, specially pleaded, may
be given in evidence at the trial upon the general issue, so the defendant
is in many cases obliged to plead the particular circumstances of his
defence specially, and cannot give them in evidence on that general plea.
But the science of special pleading having been frequently perverted to the
purposes of chicane and delay, the courts have in some instances, and the
legislature in others, permitted the general issue to be pleaded, and
special matter to be given in evidence under it at the trial, which at once
includes the facts, the equity, and the law of the case. 3 Bl. Com. 305, 6;
3 Green. Ev. Sec. 9.
     7. The special issue is when the defendant takes issue upon only one
substantial part of the declaration, and rests the weight of his case upon
it; he is then said to take a special issue, in contradistinction to tho
general issue, which denies and puts in issue the whole of the declaration.
Com. Dig. Pleader, R 1, 2.
     8. Common issue is the name given to that which is formed on the single
plea of non est factum, when pleaded to an action of covenant broken. This
is so called, because to an action of covenant broken there can properly be
no general issue, since the plea of non est fadum, which denies the deed
only, and not the breach, does not put the whole declaration in issue. 1
Chit. Pl. 482; Lawes on Pl. 113; Gould, Pl. c. 6, part 1, Sec. 7 and Sec.
10, 2.
     9. Issues are formal and informal.
    10. A formal issue is one which is formed according to the rules
required by law, in a proper and artificial manner.
    11. An informal issue is one which arises when a material allegation is
traversed in an improper or artificial manner.  Ab. Pleas, &c., G 2, N 5; 2
Saund. 319, a, n. 6. The defect is cured by verdict., by the statute of 32
H. VIII. c. 30.
    12. Issues are also divided into actual and feigned issues.
    13. An actual issue is one formed in an action brought in the regular
manner, for the purpose of trying a question of right between the parties.
    14. A feigned issue is one directed by a court, generally by a court
exercising equitable powers, for the purpose of trying before a jury a
matter in dispute between the parties. When in a court of equity any matter
of fact is strongly contested, the court usually directs the matter to be
tried by a jury, especially such important facts as the validity of a will,
or whether A is the heir at law of B.
    15. But as no jury is summoned to attend this court, the fact is usually
directed to be tried in a court of law upon a feigned issue. For this
purpose an action is brought in which the plaintiff by a fiction dares that
he laid a wager for a sum of money with the defendant, for example, that a
certain paper is the last will and testament of A; then avers it is his
will, and therefore demands the money; the defendant admits the wager but
avers that, it is not the will of A, and thereupon that. issue is joined,
which is directed out of chancery to be tried; and thus the verdict of the
jurors at law determines the fact in the court of equity.
    16. These feigned issues are frequently used in the courts of law, by
consent of the parties, to determine some disputed rights without the
formality of pleading, and by this practice much time and expense are saved
in the decision of a cause. 3 Bl. Com. 452. The consent of the court must
also be previously obtained; for the trial of a feigned issue without such
consent is a contempt, which will authorize the court to order the
proceeding to be stayed, and punish the parties engaged. 4 T. R. 402. See
Fictitious action. See, generally Bouv. Inst. Index, h. t.