$ cat /tmp/p my $HoHref = { a => { p => 1 }, b => { q => 1 } }; use Data::Dumper; print Dumper $HoHref; delete $HoHref->{a}; print Dumper $HoHref; $ $ perl /tmp/p $VAR1 = { 'a' => { 'p' => 1 }, 'b' => { 'q' => 1 } }; $VAR1 = { 'b' => { 'q' => 1 } };