$re = '/([+-]?(?:(?:\d+\.?\d*\*?[xX]\^\d+)|(?:\d+\.?\d*\*?[xX])|(?:[xX]\^\d+)|(?:[xX])|(?:\d+\.?\d*)))/';
$str = '-5.0x^5 + 20x^4 +x^3 + x +2
5*x^4 + 2.5*x + 3';
$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