三顾茅庐

MEANING

1. 壹动verb

   lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (idiom) (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4] in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备[Liu2 Bei4] recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[Zhu1 ge3 Liang4] to his cause by visiting him three times)

   • tāsāngùmáolúcáiqǐngdàonàwèizhuānjiā.

     他三顾茅庐才请到那位专家。🔊

     He had to visit three times before he could persuade that expert to come.

2. 貳动verb

   fig. to make earnest and repeated requests of sb

   • tāsāngùmáolú,zhōngyúqǐngdàolezhèwèizhuānjiā.

     他三顾茅庐，终于请到了这位专家。🔊

     He visited three times before finally persuading this expert to come.