c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -lE
"my $re = qr/(?:(s \d mple).*?)+/x;
 my $string = 'This is a s1mple thing just a s2mple s3mple thing.';
 $string =~ $re;
 say $&;
 ;;
 my $string2 = 'This is a s1mples2mples3mple thing';
 $string2 =~ $re;
 say $&;
 ;;
 $re = qr/(?:(s \d mple).*?){3}/x;
 $string =~ $re;
 say $&;
"
s1mple
s1mples2mples3mple
s1mple thing just a s2mple s3mple