while ( ) { my ( $key, $val ) = /^(\d+)\s+(\w+)/; $val = lc($val); $dict{ $val } = $key; } #### my %dict; while ( ) { my ( $key, $val ) = /^(\d+)\s+(\w+)/; print "$key\t$val\n"; $val = lc($val); $dict{ $val } = $key; } __END__ 1 cross 2 reference 3 cross