my @range = ([35, 55], [50, 60], [30, 40], [60, 65], [70, 80]); @range = sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @range; for (my $i = 0; $i < @range; $i++) { my $e = $range[$i][1]; for(my $j = $i+1; $j < @range; $j++) { unless($range[$j][0] > $e) { $e = $range[$i][1] = $range[$j][1]; splice @range, $j, 1; redo; } } } use Data::Dumper; print Dumper \@range; #### $VAR1 = [ [ 30, 65 ], [ 70, 80 ] ];