String#strip

str.strip -> string

Returns: String · Updated March 13, 2026 · String Methods

strings whitespace strip

strip removes both leading (left) and trailing (right) whitespace from a string. It is among the most frequently used string methods in Ruby, especially when processing user input, parsing CSV data, or cleaning up strings from external sources.

Syntax

str.strip    # remove both leading and trailing whitespace

Parameters

None. This method accepts no parameters.

Examples

Basic usage

text = "   hello world   "

text.strip     # => "hello world"

Preserving the original

dirty = "  hello  "
clean = dirty.strip

dirty  # => "  hello  " (unchanged)
clean  # => "hello"

In-place modification

name = "  John Doe  "
name.strip!   # modifies name directly
name          # => "John Doe"

Common Patterns

Form validation

def validate_username(username)
  username.strip!
  username.length >= 3 && username.length <= 20
end

validate_username("  alice  ")  # => true
validate_username("ab")         # => false

Parsing CSV data

row = ["  1", "  Alice  ", "  25  "]
id, name, age = row.map(&:strip)
# => [1, "Alice", 25]

Cleaning log lines

log_line = "   [INFO] Application started   "
level, message = log_line.strip.split(/\s+/, 2)
# => ["[INFO]", "Application started"]