What does 'tread' mean in the sentence?
I sat there, treading water, wind, fire, ether so I could convince myself that there was nothing to say.

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What does 'tread' mean in the sentence?

Question

What does 'tread' mean in the sentence?
I sat there, treading water, wind, fire, ether so I could convince myself that there was nothing to say.

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What does 'tread' mean in the sentence?

Answer

In this context, the phrase "tread water" means to perform an activity without making any progress. Literally, to tread water means to swim in place.

Answer

How can someone sit there and tread water at the same time? Not logical.

Answer

Tread water is to stay floating by moving your arms and legs while swimming without moving your location.  I do not understand why the speaker has something they really want to say... But I think the person is comparing the activities of struggling to swim, being burned, and blown by a heavy wind to keeping her/his mouth shut.