leather spine of a book
Refers specifically to the leather covering on the spine of a bound book.
この古い辞書は背革が傷んでいる。
The leather spine of this old dictionary is damaged.
Standard kanji spelling for the leather spine of a book.
Variant spelling using 皮 (skin/hide) instead of 革 (leather); both are used.
Compound of 背 (se, 'back/spine') and 革 (kawa, 'leather'), with rendaku voicing to gawa.