Or List::MoreUtil's even more correct 'any' function.

if ( any { $_ eq $foo } @list ) {

}
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If you are wondering why first isn't enough, imagine...

if ( first { ! defined $_ } @list ) {
    # Does not get called if it matches
}

if ( any { ! defined $_ } @list ) {
    # Does get called it if matches
}
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Of course, this assumes you only need to check once and once only. If you want to check many times, build the hash index and do it that way.

Edit by castaway - swapped lotsa br tags for code tags