my $re = qr/.+\-(.+)/; $foo =~ s/$re/$1/; #### $foo =~ s/.+\-(.+)/$1/; #### use strict; my $re = qr/.+\-(.+)/; while(){ s/$re/$1/; print; } __DATA__ domain-comp1 domain-comp2 domain-comp3 #### comp1 comp2 comp3