# If you'd like to omit non-matching lines from the result; add ';d' to the end of the expression.
sed -E 's/^(.*?)\s*(1st|2d)($|\W).*/\1/gm;t' <<< "covid19 1st case
covid19 2d case
covid19 1std 1st case"
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 SED, please visit: https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/html_node/The-_0022s_0022-Command.html