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<?php $strings = [ "This is a (first) test with the first hit", "This is a (first] test with the first hit" ]; foreach ($strings as $str) { preg_match( '/(?:\(first\)|\[first]|{first})(*SKIP)(*FAIL)|\bfirst\b/', $str, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE); print_r($matches); }
Output for 7.2.0 - 7.2.33, 7.3.0 - 7.3.33, 7.4.0 - 7.4.33, 8.0.0 - 8.0.30, 8.1.0 - 8.1.33, 8.2.0 - 8.2.29, 8.3.0 - 8.3.25, 8.4.1 - 8.4.13
Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => first [1] => 32 ) ) Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => first [1] => 11 ) )

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