a type of stiff cloth made especially from cotton or linen, used in the past for covering books and for making clothes stiffer (旧时用作书皮或衣服衬里的)硬棉布,硬麻布,硬衬布 Word OriginMiddle English (denoting a kind of fine linen or cotton cloth): from Old French boquerant, perhaps from Bukhoro, a city in the republic of Uzbekistan in central Asia.