my $dbase_obj = tie (%dbase, 'DB_File', $dbase, O_CREAT|O_RDWR, 0644)
   || die "Died tying database\nReason: $!\n";
...

$dbase{word} = $word;
$dbase_obj->sync()

##</code><code>##

  shift @words until $words[0] =~ m/$start/;

##</code><code>##

  shift @words until $words[0] eq $start;