$query->where('tags', 'LIKE', '%'.$uID.'%');

SELECT 'a word a' REGEXP '[[:<:]]word[[:>:]]';

How do i use that Word boundary query in laravel query builder

Tried this and still failed $query->whereRaw("tags LIKE REGEXP '[[:<:]]Men[[:>:]]'");

SQLSTATE[42000]: Syntax error or access violation: 1064 You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'REGEXP '[[:<:]]Men[[:>:]]')' at line 1 (SQL: select count(*) as aggregate from items where item_status = ? and (tags LIKE REGEXP '[[:<:]]Men[[:>:]]')) (Bindings: array ( 0 => 2, ))