=over =item $PREMATCH =item $` X<$`> X<$PREMATCH> X<${^PREMATCH}> The string preceding whatever was matched by the last successful pattern match, not counting any matches hidden within a BLOCK or C enclosed by the current BLOCK. See L above for the serious performance implications of using this variable (even once) in your code. This variable is read-only and dynamically-scoped. Mnemonic: C<`> often precedes a quoted string. =back