my %prices = $str =~ m/((?:$animal)s?)\s(?:is|are)\s(\$\d+)/g;

##</code><code>##

use strict;

my $something = 'This is a bang of a bing thing';

if($something =~ m/((?:bing|bong|bang))/i) {
 print "Found '$1' in '$something'\n";
}

##</code><code>##

Found 'bang' in 'This is a bang of a bing thing'

##</code><code>##

...
my @list = qw / bing bong bang /;
if($something =~ m/(?:@list)/i)
...

##</code><code>##

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