An apparatus, circuit, and method are provided herein for locating and extracting a plurality of matching entries from one or more databases stored within a Content Addressable Memory (CAM) device. The apparatus, circuit, and method may locate the plurality of matching entries by comparing variations of a single search key to the entire database of entries. In other words, a number of bits may be stored within each of the database entries as a descriptor field. When searching for a particular entry or entries, a corresponding descriptor field included within (or appended to) the search key may be modified, after at least one matching entry is found, for locating and extracting additional entries matching the original search key. Use of the descriptor field, therefore, enables the circuit and method to locate and extract a potentially unlimited number of entries matching the original search key. The circuit and method may be used for extracting `k` matching entries, the first `k` matching entries, or all entries matching the original search key.