$  perl -dE 42

Loading DB routines from perl5db.pl version 1.33
Editor support available.

Enter h or `h h' for help, or `man perldebug' for more help.

main::(-e:1):   42
  DB<1> $regex = qr/abc.*f/;

  DB<2> $new = "abcd.*f";

  DB<3> $new =~ s/.\*//g;

  DB<4> $new =~s/(.)\+/$1/g;

  DB<5> p $new;
abcdf
  DB<6> print "true" if $new =~ /$regex/;
true
  DB<7>