use strict; use warnings; my @array1 = qw ( ant bee ant cow ant dog ); my @array2 = qw ( ant cat bee cow rat ); my @array3 = qw ( ant 1 3 5 7 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X ); my @arrays; my $length = 0; for ( \@array1, \@array2, \@array3 ) { $length = @$_ if @$_ > $length; push @arrays, $_; } my %seen; foreach my $i ( 0 .. $length - 1 ) { for ( @arrays ) { print "$_->[$i] " if $_->[$i] and not $seen{$_->[$i]}++; } }