Strong enough to take the short way out (5)
I believe the answer is:
stout
'strong' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'way out' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'st'.
'st'+'out'='STOUT'
'enough to take the short' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stout that I've seen before include "Kind of beer" , "Resolute" , "Rather fat; determined" , "Portly - porter" , "drinks?" .)