@ICE = 30F-WKS(tab)`1781183799.xxxx1' (tab) IC---; 30F-WKS (tab) `1781183799.xxx11' (tab) IC---; ADM34A3F9 (tab) `1781183799.41455' (tab) IC---; #### ICE= 30F-WKS (tab) `1781183799.xxx11' (tab) IC---; ADM34A3F9 (tab) `1781183799.41455' (tab) IC---; #### I have used the following code: my @ICEU; my %seen; my @ICEU = grep { !$seen{$_->[0]}++ } @ICE; print Dumper \%seen; The output I am getting is:- $VAR1 = { '' => 1218 };