Thanks @Loki12583
So, using your method, would the following be the correct application to my earlier example where I used $remove ?
on *:TEXT:*:#: {
tokenize 32 $1-
if ($regex($1-,/\b($ini($scriptdirHighlights.ini,%highlightword))\b/iS) >= 1) {
do stuff
}
}
If I've got this wrong (which I think I may have), could you please explain how I might better use the $regex method?
Thanks

Panda