my($re,$lin,@g,@inarr); my(@inarr)=( 'stuff{tag}stuff', 'stuff blah {foo}', 'stuff blah foo ', 'stuff blah ' ); $re='<(ig|igt|igo|igxo);.+?>'; foreach $lin (@inarr) { @g=($lin=~m/$re/g); } # foreach