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grep /grep/ vi.

[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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