Anchors in JavaScript
From the JavaScript Regular Expressions cheat sheet · Basic Patterns · verified Jul 2026
Anchors
Matching positions in text
javascript
^ Start of string
$ End of string
\b Word boundary
\B Not a word boundary
// Multi-line mode (m flag)
^ Start of line
$ End of line
// Examples
/^hello/.test("hello world") // true
/world$/.test("hello world") // true
/^hello$/.test("hello") // true (exact match)
/\bcat\b/.test("cat in hat") // true (whole word)
/\bcat\b/.test("scatter") // false
/\Bcat/.test("scatter") // true (inside word)
// Multi-line examples
const text = "line1\nline2"
/^line2/m.test(text) // true (with m flag)
/^line2/.test(text) // false (without m flag)💡 Use ^ and $ together for exact full string match
⚡ Word boundary \b is zero-width - doesn't consume characters
📌 Multi-line flag (m) changes ^ and $ behavior
🟢 \b is useful for matching whole words only
anchorsboundaries