/(?<=222,)(\d{3})/g #### $ perl -E 'say for "222,222,123" =~ /(?<=222,)(\d{3})/g' 222 123 $ perl -E 'say for "222,345,222,678,222,222,543,111" =~ /(?<=222,)(\d{3})/g' 345 678 222 543 $ perl -E 'say for "123,222,456,222,222,111,222,999" =~ /(?<=222,)(\d{3})/g' 456 222 111 999