I`m very sorry for the stupid question but what is the meaning of ^ at the beginning and $ at the end of the string:

if (ereg("^[a-zA-Z0-9\-\.]+\.(com|org|net|mil|edu)$",
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Server IP: 89.190.194.18
Probable Submitter: 91.139.156.15
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Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.ereg.php
Edit        -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/86170
Del: integrated  -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170/integrated
Del: useless     -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170/useless
Del: bad code    -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170/bad+code
Del: spam        -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170/spam
Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170/non-english
Del: in docs     -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170/in+docs
Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/86170
Reject      -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/86170
Search      -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php