1. grep
[from the qed/ed editor idiom g/re/p,
where re stands for a regular expression, to
Globally search for the Regular Expression and Print the lines containing
matches to it, via Unix
grep(1)]
To rapidly scan a file or set of files looking for a particular string or
pattern (when browsing through a large set of files, one may speak of
grepping around). By extension, to
look for something by pattern. “Grep the bulletin board for the
system backup schedule, would you?” See also
vgrep.[It has been alleged that the source is from the title of a paper
“A General Regular Expression Parser”, but dmr confirms the
g/re/p etymology --ESR]
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Definitions of grep
