13.8. Metacharacters (Wildcards)

Metacharacters are special characters used to represent something other than themselves . Shell metacharacters are called wildcards . Table 13.10 lists metacharacters and what they do.

Table 13.10. Metacharacters

Metacharacter	Meaning
\	Interprets the following character literally
&	Processes in the background
;	Separates commands
$	Substitutes variables
?	Matches for a single character
[abc]	Matches for one character from a set of characters; for example, a , b , or c
[!abc]	Matches for one character not from the set of characters; for example, not a , b , or c
*	Matches for zero or more characters
(cmds)	Executes commands in a subshell
{cmds}	Executes commands in current shell