Strip chars

[zzz]

I have a string abc55abc

I need to strip abc from both sides. I've tried this without much success...

$var = "abc55abc";
$var = preg_replace("abc", " ", $var);

😕

[devinemke]

$var = 'abc55abc'; 
$var = str_replace('abc', '', $var);

[zzz]

dah.........Thanks!