14.7 Filename Expansion

Each word is checked to see if it begins with an unquoted ‘~’. If it does, then the word up to a ‘/’, or the end of the word if there is no ‘/’, is checked to see if it can be substituted in one of the ways described here. If so, then the ‘~’ and the checked portion are replaced with the appropriate substitute value.

A ‘~’ by itself is replaced by the value of $HOME. A ‘~’ followed by a ‘+’ or a ‘-’ is replaced by current or previous working directory, respectively.

A ‘~’ followed by a number is replaced by the directory at that position in the directory stack. ‘~0’ is equivalent to ‘~+’, and ‘~1’ is the top of the stack. ‘~+’ followed by a number is replaced by the directory at that position in the directory stack. ‘~+0’ is equivalent to ‘~+’, and ‘~+1’ is the top of the stack. ‘~-’ followed by a number is replaced by the directory that many positions from the bottom of the stack. ‘~-0’ is the bottom of the stack. The PUSHD_MINUS option exchanges the effects of ‘~+’ and ‘~-’ where they are followed by a number.