=over =item $^N The text matched by the used group most-recently closed (i.e. the group with the rightmost closing parenthesis) of the last successful search pattern. (Mnemonic: the (possibly) Nested parenthesis that most recently closed.) This is primarily used inside C<(?{...})> blocks for examining text recently matched. For example, to effectively capture text to a variable (in addition to C<$1>, C<$2>, etc.), replace C<(...)> with (?:(...)(?{ $var = $^N })) By setting and then using C<$var> in this way relieves you from having to worry about exactly which numbered set of parentheses they are. This variable is dynamically scoped to the current BLOCK. =back