re = /(?<!\S)(?!\*+\d)[a-zA-Z]*\*[a-zA-Z*]*/x
str = '(A) Match these:
*** star* st**r
(B) Not these:
800*m *4,500
(C) And not these:
800**m **4,000'
# Print the match result
str.scan(re) do |match|
puts match.to_s
end
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 Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html