php - Replace multiple dashes with one dash -

i have string looks this:

something-------another--thing        //^^^^^^^       ^^ 

i want replace multiple dashes single one.

so expected output be:

something-another-thing        //^       ^ 

i tried use str_replace(), have write code again every possible amount of dashes. how can replace amount of dashes single one?

for rizier:

tried:

 $mystring = "something-------another--thing";  str_replace("--", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("---", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("----", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("-----", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("------", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("-------", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("--------", "-", $mystring);  str_replace("---------", "-", $mystring);  etc... 

but string have 10000 of lines between 2 words.

use preg_replace replace pattern.

$str = preg_replace('/-+/', '-', $str); 

the regular expression -+ matches sequence of 1 or more hyphen characters.

if don't understand regular expressions, read tutorial @ www.regular-expression.info.