An embodiment of the invention includes first and second Ternary Content Addressable Memories (TCAMs), a first vector, and TCAM match-merge unit. Each of the TCAMs includes a plurality of words, stores TCAM match entries and outputs a TCAM match signal for each word in the plurality of words. The first vector includes first TCAM group enable register bits. An enabling value on the first TCAM register bit indicates that the first TCAM match signal and the neighboring first TCAM match are in the same TCAM group. The TCAM match-merge unit receives the first TCAM match signal from each of the words and the first vector and outputs a first TCAM group match signal for each of the words. The TCAM match-merge unit outputs a match indication when any of the TCAM match signals indicate a match and outputs a mismatch when none of the TCAM match signals match.