1fig. to make earnest and repeated requests of sb
2lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (idiom) (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三国演义|三国演义 in which Liu Bei 刘备|刘备 recruits Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮|诸葛亮 to his cause by visiting him three times)