C++ std::find with a custom comparator

Based on your comments, you’re probably looking for this:

struct special_compare : public std::unary_function<std::string, bool>
{
  explicit special_compare(const std::string &baseline) : baseline(baseline) {}
  bool operator() (const std::string &arg)
  { return somehow_compare(arg, baseline); }
  std::string baseline;
}

std::find_if(strings.begin(), strings.end(), special_compare("hell*"));