I think you want

my $dels = join '|',
           map quotemeta,
           @dels;

@array = grep !/$dels/, @array
[download]

That deletes "applepie" when "apple" is in @dels.

Of course, if you only wanted to delete exact matches, you could extend ikegami's solution like so:

@array = grep !/^($dels)$/, @array;
[download]

Now, 'apple' will no longer result in 'apple pie' being deleted.


--
"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about."
-- B. L. Whorf

Now, 'apple' will no longer result in 'apple pie' being deleted.

...but "apple\n" still gets tossed. Use \z to match the literal end-of-string and $ for end-of-string-or-newline-you-know-whatever.

it works :)