c:\@Work\Perl>perl -wMstrict -le "print qq{perl version: $] \n}; ;; my $parse1 = '/newsearch/detail/96603'; my $parse2 = ''; ;; for ( qq{xxx \n/newsearch/detail/96603\n xxx}, qq{xxx \n/newsearch/detail/96603x\n xxx}, qq{xxx \nx/newsearch/detail/96603x\n xxx}, qq{xxx \nx/newsearch/detail/96603\n xxx}, qq{bla vla/newsearch/detail/96603 x}, ) { print qq{<<$_>>}; print qq{MATCH '$&'} if /^.*?(?:\b|_)$parse1(?:\b|_).*?(?:\b|_)$parse2(?:\b|_).*?$/m; print ''; } " perl version: 5.008009 <> <> <> <> MATCH 'x/newsearch/detail/96603' <> MATCH 'bla vla/newsearch/detail/96603 x'