#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; my $bal; $bal = qr /[^()]* (?: [(] (??{ $bal }) [)] )* [^()]*/x; while () { chomp; print $& while /$bal/g; print "\n"; } __DATA__ (1.3.56.84 56.38.m.26) (56.2.3.59) ((one)(two)) ((one(two)) ((one)(two) (one)(two)) ((one)two)) #### 1.3.56.84 56.38.m.26 (56.2.3.59) ((one)(two)) (one(two)) (one)(two) (one)(two) ((one)two)