broke dead informal
broke flat informal

Instead she broke dead branches, lit them with a pass of her hand, and half roasted the bird.

I took handfuls of the pithy wood from the rotting trunk, and broke dead branches into manageable length.

Secretariat broke dead last.

From the trunks of trees nearby he broke dead suckers, small branches that had started to grow from the trunks and then died.

She broke dead sticks and stacked them, shaved fine flakes of wood from one, then struck her flint and steel to make a spark, and blew it into fire.

He had won his previous six starts by an average of 13 lengths, setting five track records and a world record while leading from start to finish, but Saturday night he broke dead last and trailed the field heading into the first turn.

Dawn broke flat and grey over Atlantic City yesterday to reveal a resort town in tatters; in the middle of one road a child's car seat lay upturned and abandoned.