$line = 'Iteration {Applied Field} {Total Energy} Mx'; while($line){ $line =~m/\w+|{\w+\s+\w+}/; $line = $'; print $&,"\n"; } -----OUTPUT----- Iteration {Applied Field} {Total Energy} Mx #### $line = 'Iteration {Applied Field} {Total Energy} Mx '; print "$1\n" while $line=~s/(\w+\s+\w+|\w+)[}|\s+|\s+{]//; Iteration Applied Field Total Energy Mx #### $line = 'Iteration {Applied Field} A {Total Energy} Mx F G {Third test line}'; print "$&\n" while $line=~s/(?<={)[\w\s]+(?=})|\w+//; Iteration Applied Field A Total Energy Mx F G Third test line