String[] haystack = {"Zig","Zag","Wally","Ronald","Bush","Krusty","Charlie","Bush","Bozo"}; OUTERLOOP: for (String needle : new String[]{"Washington","Bush"}) { for (int i = 0; i < haystack.length; i++) if (needle.equals(haystack[i])) { System.out.println(i + " " + needle); continue OUTERLOOP; } System.out.println(needle + " is not in haystack"); }