Shatter dead wood
I believe the answer is:
dash
'shatter' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'dead wood' is the wordplay.
'dead' becomes 'd'.
'wood' becomes 'ash' (wood from an ash tree).
'd'+'ash'='DASH'
(Other definitions for dash that I've seen before include "Striking" , "Small amount -- move fast" , "scotch" , "Destroy (hopes); hyphen" , "Short race run at top speed" .)