import re
regex = re.compile(r"(?:(?<=\S)( )+)? *remove *(?(1) (?=\S)(?!remove\b))", flags=re.MULTILINE)
test_str = ("before remove after\n"
"before remove after\n"
"remove after\n"
"before remove\n"
"before remove\n"
"remove\n"
" remove \n"
"remove \n"
"before remove after remove before\n"
"before remove after remove before remove\n"
"before remove after remove before remove \n"
"before remove after remove before before remove remove remove\n"
"remove remove remove ")
subst = "\\1"
result = regex.sub(subst, test_str)
if result:
print(result)
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Python, please visit: https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html