- preg_match_all: documentation ( source)
- var_export: documentation ( source)
- implode: documentation ( source)
<?php
$toks = [
'\bwaiting\b',
'^\w+',
'\bresponse\b',
'\bfrom\b',
'\|',
'\bto\b',
];
$pattern = '/' . implode('|', $toks) . '/i';
var_export(preg_match_all($pattern, "I'm waiting for a response from", $out) ? $out[0] : null);