tread water

Verb

 * 1) To remain afloat in the water without use of any buoyancy aid, by using kicking motions and hand motions.
 * 2)  To make no progress, expending effort just enough to maintain a stable position.
 * 1)  To make no progress, expending effort just enough to maintain a stable position.

Usage notes

 * The strongly inflected UK forms were commonly used in US newspapers in the nineteenth century, but rarely thereafter.
 * Not to be confused with.

Translations

 * Finnish: pysytellä pinnalla, huitoa vettä,
 * German: Wasser treten
 * Italian: stare a galla
 * Swedish:


 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:, 维持现状
 * Dutch: ter plaatse trappelen
 * Finnish: polkea paikallaan
 * French: ,
 * German: auf der Stelle treten ,
 * Greek: δεν προκόβω
 * Italian:
 * Polish: stać w miejscu
 * Russian:
 * Turkish:
 * Ukrainian: топта́тись на мі́сці