lookbehind

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noun

The analysis of the preceding characters before the regular expression is matched.

Scrabble 20
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Meanings

nounlookbehind (countable and uncountable, plural lookbehinds)

plural lookbehinds

  1. countableuncountableregular expressionsThe analysis of the preceding characters before the regular expression is matched.

    [There] are times when it's useful to be able to look to the left of the current position being considered to see what the past had to say about a particular pattern. That is the purpose of lookbehinds.

    2004, Mehran Habibi, Java Regular Expressions: Taming the java.util.regex Engine

Origin

Deverbal from look behind.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

lookbehind. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lookbehind

MLA

“lookbehind.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lookbehind. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lookbehind,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lookbehind.

Source: lookbehind on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.