It captures 13-16 digits, each followed by zero or more spaces or dashes (the [ -]*?
). In other words, the {13,16}
applies to the entire group (?:\d[ -]*?)
. So, it could capture, for example, 1--2-3--4-5-6 7-----8-9-0-1-2-3-4-5-6-
. In your sample case, it captures these 16 chunks:
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 4-
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4-
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 5-
- 2
- 1
- 4
- 6
solved (?:\d[ -]*?){13,16} – confused with the priority that is given in matching the pattern to the given regex [duplicate]