#!/usr/bin/perl use strict; while() { my ($line) = $_ =~ /\b(start\s.*end)\b/; print "$line\n" if ( $line ); } __DATA__ asdasd start asdasd asdasdasd asdasdas end asdasdas adasdas start as asdas dasdasdad asdasddas end qweqwe asdasd start asdsadsdasddasds sdasdas asdasdasdasd asdasdsa asdasd asdasdasd end