$re = '/test:.*?(?=$|\b\w+:)/m';
$str = 'This is a test: 1, two again,three test2: what is, this
test: acid, kool-aid word: some more info
Another test: face, 3, & yes';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$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 PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php