Remove specific parameter from URL while preserving other parameters

Question

I want remove a parameter from a URL:

$linkExample1='https://stackoverflow.com/?name=alaa&counter=1';
$linkExample2='https://stackoverflow.com/?counter=4&star=5';

I am trying to get this result:

• https://stackoverflow.com/?name=alaa&
• https://stackoverflow.com/?&star=5

I am trying to do it using preg_replace, but I've no idea how it can be done.

Answer 1

$link = preg_replace('~(\?|&)counter=[^&]*~','$1',$link);