Wouldn't it be easier or quicker to do something along the lines of:

@array2 = grep {$_ =~ s/\b$stopword\b//g } @array1;
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or does grep compare favorably to a foreach as far as efficiency?

Some people fall from grace. I prefer a running start...

UPDATE:

After thinking on this a bit, I think this solution would work for the problem. Fellow monks, please point out my folly if I'm wrong with this.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;

my @list = qw( red blue orange yellow black brown green );

print join( ' ', @list );
print "\n";

@list = grep { m/e/io } @list;

print join( ' ', @list );
print "\n";
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I realize my regex isn't what the original poster was trying to do, but the idea is the same I believe.

This is what I was trying to say in response earlier but I seem to have had a brain fart this morning.