my @test = qw / bing bong bang /; print '['.$test[2].'] ['.$test[1].'] ['.$test[0]."]\n"; $bits{'one'}= \@test; # hash entry from a reference to array my @new = @{$bits{'one'}}; # get back the array from the hash print '['.$new[2].'] ['.$new[1].'] ['.$new[0]."]\n";