What does "cdr" mean?

It's a Lisp function name from the 1950s meaning "Contents of the Decrement part of Register," another quirk of the IBM 704's original Lisp implementation. It became the standard name for "everything after the first item."

What happens on a single-item list?

You get an empty result, since removing the only item leaves nothing behind, which is the correct cdr of a one-item list.

What's the counterpart to this tool?

List Car Finder, which returns just the first item, the other half of the classic car/cdr pair.

List Cdr Finder Online - Every Item Except the First (Lisp cdr)

Q: What happens on an empty list?

You get a clear error, since cdr is undefined for an empty list in Lisp.

Overview

Introduction

The complement to Lisp's car (first item) is cdr, everything in the list after the first item, and it's just as useful outside of Lisp.

This tool gives you cdr in a plain-text, separator-aware form: paste a list, get back everything but the first item.

What Is List Cdr Finder?

A single-purpose extractor that returns every item of a separator-delimited list except the first, rejoined with the same separator.

Named after the Lisp cdr function, historically "Contents of the Decrement part of Register" on the IBM 704, the machine the first Lisp implementation ran on.

How List Cdr Finder Works

The input is split into items using the resolved separator, the first item is dropped, and the remaining items are rejoined using the same separator and delimiter settings.

If the input is empty (or only whitespace), the tool returns a clear error, since cdr is undefined for an empty list; a single-item list correctly produces an empty result.

When To Use List Cdr Finder

Use it whenever you need everything in a list after the first entry, dropping a header row, skipping a title line, or processing the tail of a queue.

It's also useful paired with List Car Finder when you need to process a list's head and tail separately.

Often used alongside List Car Finder, Sublist Extractor and List Item Shifter.

Features

Advantages

Correctly distinguishes an empty result (single-item input) from an error (empty input).
Preserves the original order and formatting of the remaining items exactly.
Works with any configured separator, not just newline-delimited lists.

Limitations

Only ever drops exactly the first item; use List Item Shifter if you need to drop more than one item from the start.
Does not trim whitespace from the remaining items, so any leading/trailing spaces from your source list carry through.

Examples

Cdr of a newline list

Input

apple
banana
cherry

Output

banana
cherry

The first line is dropped; the remaining two lines are rejoined with a newline.

Cdr of a longer comma list

Input

1,2,3,4

Output

2,3,4

The first item is dropped and the remaining three items are rejoined with the same comma separator.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Pair with List Car Finder if you need both the first item and the remainder handled separately.
Use List Item Shifter instead if you need to drop more than just the first item.

Developer Notes

Implemented as items.slice(1) after splitting via the shared splitListItems() helper, then rejoined with joinListItems(); this correctly returns an empty string (not an error) for a single-item input.

List Cdr Finder Use Cases

Dropping a header or title line before processing the rest of a list
Working through a queue or stack representation one item at a time
Teaching or demonstrating Lisp's classic car/cdr list decomposition

Common Mistakes

Expecting an error on a single-item list; an empty result is correct, only a fully empty input errors.
Confusing cdr (everything but the first item) with car (just the first item).
Forgetting the output is rejoined with the same separator as the input, which matters if you're chaining into another tool expecting a specific format.

Tips

Chain the output straight into another list tool via "Send to tool" to keep processing the tail of your list.
Use List Car Finder first if you also need the item that was dropped.

List Cdr Finder