c:\@Work\Perl>perl -w -MData::Dump -le "$REFERRERS{foo}{bar}{baz}++; ;; dd \%REFERRERS; " { foo => { bar => { baz => 1 } } } c:\@Work\Perl>perl -w -MData::Dump -le "$REFERRERS->{foo}{bar}{baz}++; ;; dd $REFERRERS; " { foo => { bar => { baz => 1 } } }