$Hash{44.52}{param1}{key1} = [101.01,'val1']; $Hash{95.01}{param2}{key2} = [101.02,'val2']; #### my $neededVal = 80.0; if (defined $Hash{$neededVal}{param1}{key1}) { print "DEFINED"; } else { for (keys %Hash) { print "$_\n"; #this prints 80.0 as a KEY (among the others)!!! How?.. } }