@AoA = ( [ 0.5, "b1", "c0" ], [ 0.4, "b1", "c1" ], [ 0.7, "b2", "c2" ], [ 0.3, "b3", "c3" ], [ 0.6, "b3", "c4" ], ); @AoA[2..$#AoA] = sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @AoA[2..$#AoA]; print Dumper \@AoA;