my @unwanted = qw( schema log ); my %hash = (schema=>1, log=>2, aa=>3); print Dumper(delete local @hash{ @unwanted }, \%hash); print Dumper(\%hash); $VAR1 = 1; $VAR2 = 2; $VAR3 = { 'aa' => 3 }; $VAR1 = { 'aa' => 3 };