diff --git a/docs/src/markdown/_snippets/links.txt b/docs/src/markdown/_snippets/links.txt
index cfb30047..9e2f5aae 100644
--- a/docs/src/markdown/_snippets/links.txt
+++ b/docs/src/markdown/_snippets/links.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 [aspell]: /~https://github.com/GNUAspell/aspell
 [bs4]: https://beautiful-soup-4.readthedocs.io/en/latest/#
+[contains-draft]: https://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-css3-selectors-20011113/#content-selectors
 [custom-extensions-1]: https://drafts.csswg.org/css-extensions-1/
 [html5lib]: /~https://github.com/html5lib/html5lib-python
 [lxml]: /~https://github.com/lxml/lxml
diff --git a/docs/src/markdown/about/changelog.md b/docs/src/markdown/about/changelog.md
index defd93ab..37bf3026 100644
--- a/docs/src/markdown/about/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/src/markdown/about/changelog.md
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## Latest
+## 1.9.0
 
+- **NEW**: Allow `:contans()` to accept a list of text to search for.
 - **FIX**: Don't install test files when installing the `soupsieve` package.
+- **FIX**: Improve efficiency of `:contains()` comparison.
 
 ## 1.8.0
 
diff --git a/docs/src/markdown/about/development.md b/docs/src/markdown/about/development.md
index d6f969f1..5af0ed6d 100644
--- a/docs/src/markdown/about/development.md
+++ b/docs/src/markdown/about/development.md
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ Attribute       | Description
 `selectors`     | Contains a tuple of `SelectorList` objects for each pseudo-class selector  part of the compound selector: `#!css :is()`, `#!css :not()`, `#!css :has()`, etc.
 `relation`      | This will contain a `SelectorList` object with one `Selector` object, which could in turn chain an additional relation depending on the complexity of the compound selector.  For instance, `div > p + a` would be a `Selector` for `a` that contains a `relation` for `p` (another `SelectorList` object) which also contains a relation of `div`.  When matching, we would match that the tag is `a`, and then walk its relation chain verifying that they all match. In this case, the relation chain would be a direct, previous sibling of `p`, which has a direct parent of `div`. A `:has()` pseudo-class would walk this in the opposite order. `div:has(> p + a)` would verify `div`, and then check for a child of `p` with a sibling of `a`.
 `rel_type`      | `rel_type` is attached to relational selectors. In the case of `#!css div > p + a`, the relational selectors of `div` and `p` would get a relational type of `>` and `+` respectively. `:has()` relational `rel_type` are preceded with `:` to signify a forward looking relation.
-`contains`      | Contains a tuple of strings of content to match in an element.
+`contains`      | Contains a tuple of [`SelectorContains`](#selectorcontains) objects. Each object contains the list of text to match an element's content against.
 `lang`          | Contains a tuple of [`SelectorLang`](#selectorlang) objects.
 `flags`         | Selector flags that used to signal a type of selector is present.
 
@@ -288,6 +288,20 @@ Attribute           | Description
 `pattern`           | Contains a `re` regular expression object that matches the desired attribute value.
 `xml_type_pattern`  | As the default `type` pattern is case insensitive, when the attribute value is `type` and a case sensitivity has not been explicitly defined, a secondary case sensitive `type` pattern is compiled for use with XML documents when detected.
 
+### `SelectorContains`
+
+```py3
+class SelectorContains:
+    """Selector contains rule."""
+
+    def __init__(self, text):
+        """Initialize."""
+```
+
+Attribute           | Description
+------------------- | -----------
+`text`              | A tuple of acceptable text that that an element should match. An element only needs to match at least one.
+
 ### `SelectorNth`
 
 ```py3
diff --git a/docs/src/markdown/selectors.md b/docs/src/markdown/selectors.md
index 785777d8..9cf8ecba 100644
--- a/docs/src/markdown/selectors.md
+++ b/docs/src/markdown/selectors.md
@@ -412,10 +412,15 @@ Selects any `#!html <input type="radio"/>`, `#!html <input type="checkbox"/>`, o
     input:checked
     ```
 
-### `:contains`<span class="star badge"></span> {:#:contains}
+### `:contains()`<span class="star badge"></span> {:#:contains}
 
 Selects elements that contain the text provided text. Text can be found in either itself, or its descendants.
 
+Contains was originally included in a [CSS early draft][contains-draft], but was in the end dropped from the draft.
+Soup Sieve implements it how it was originally proposed in the draft with the addition that `:contains()` can accept
+either a single value, or a comma separated list of values. An element needs only to match at least one of the items
+in the comma separated list to be considered matching.
+
 !!! warning "Contains"
     `:contains()` is an expensive operation as it scans all the text nodes of an element under consideration, which
     includes all descendants. Using highly specific selectors can reduce how often it is evaluated.
diff --git a/soupsieve/__meta__.py b/soupsieve/__meta__.py
index ce903a1c..2cbe51ad 100644
--- a/soupsieve/__meta__.py
+++ b/soupsieve/__meta__.py
@@ -186,5 +186,5 @@ def parse_version(ver, pre=False):
     return Version(major, minor, micro, release, pre, post, dev)
 
 
-__version_info__ = Version(1, 8, 1, ".dev")
+__version_info__ = Version(1, 9, 0, ".dev")
 __version__ = __version_info__._get_canonical()
diff --git a/soupsieve/css_match.py b/soupsieve/css_match.py
index 7bb01d1f..923eb845 100644
--- a/soupsieve/css_match.py
+++ b/soupsieve/css_match.py
@@ -811,10 +811,17 @@ def match_contains(self, el, contains):
         """Match element if it contains text."""
 
         match = True
-        for c in contains:
-            if c not in self.get_text(el):
+        content = None
+        for contain_list in contains:
+            if content is None:
+                content = self.get_text(el)
+            found = False
+            for text in contain_list.text:
+                if text in content:
+                    found = True
+                    break
+            if not found:
                 match = False
-                break
         return match
 
     def match_default(self, el):
diff --git a/soupsieve/css_parser.py b/soupsieve/css_parser.py
index c6626625..a537d5f7 100644
--- a/soupsieve/css_parser.py
+++ b/soupsieve/css_parser.py
@@ -149,13 +149,13 @@
 \({ws}*(?P<nth_type>{nth}|even|odd)){ws}*\)
 '''.format(ws=WSC, nth=NTH)
 # Pseudo class language (`:lang("*-de", en)`)
-PAT_PSEUDO_LANG = r':lang\({ws}*(?P<lang>{value}(?:{ws}*,{ws}*{value})*){ws}*\)'.format(ws=WSC, value=VALUE)
+PAT_PSEUDO_LANG = r':lang\({ws}*(?P<values>{value}(?:{ws}*,{ws}*{value})*){ws}*\)'.format(ws=WSC, value=VALUE)
 # Pseudo class direction (`:dir(ltr)`)
 PAT_PSEUDO_DIR = r':dir\({ws}*(?P<dir>ltr|rtl){ws}*\)'.format(ws=WSC)
 # Combining characters (`>`, `~`, ` `, `+`, `,`)
 PAT_COMBINE = r'{wsc}*?(?P<relation>[,+>~]|{ws}(?![,+>~])){wsc}*'.format(ws=WS, wsc=WSC)
 # Extra: Contains (`:contains(text)`)
-PAT_PSEUDO_CONTAINS = r':contains\({ws}*(?P<value>{value}){ws}*\)'.format(ws=WSC, value=VALUE)
+PAT_PSEUDO_CONTAINS = r':contains\({ws}*(?P<values>{value}(?:{ws}*,{ws}*{value})*){ws}*\)'.format(ws=WSC, value=VALUE)
 
 # Regular expressions
 # CSS escape pattern
@@ -166,8 +166,8 @@
     r'(?P<s1>[-+])?(?P<a>[0-9]+n?|n)(?:(?<=n){ws}*(?P<s2>[-+]){ws}*(?P<b>[0-9]+))?'.format(ws=WSC),
     re.I
 )
-# Pattern to iterate multiple languages.
-RE_LANG = re.compile(r'(?:(?P<value>{value})|(?P<split>{ws}*,{ws}*))'.format(ws=WSC, value=VALUE), re.X)
+# Pattern to iterate multiple values.
+RE_VALUES = re.compile(r'(?:(?P<value>{value})|(?P<split>{ws}*,{ws}*))'.format(ws=WSC, value=VALUE), re.X)
 # Whitespace checks
 RE_WS = re.compile(WS)
 RE_WS_BEGIN = re.compile('^{}*'.format(WSC))
@@ -751,21 +751,27 @@ def parse_class_id(self, sel, m, has_selector):
     def parse_pseudo_contains(self, sel, m, has_selector):
         """Parse contains."""
 
-        content = m.group('value')
-        if content.startswith(("'", '"')):
-            content = css_unescape(content[1:-1], True)
-        else:
-            content = css_unescape(content)
-        sel.contains.append(content)
+        values = m.group('values')
+        patterns = []
+        for token in RE_VALUES.finditer(values):
+            if token.group('split'):
+                continue
+            value = token.group('value')
+            if value.startswith(("'", '"')):
+                value = css_unescape(value[1:-1], True)
+            else:
+                value = css_unescape(value)
+            patterns.append(value)
+        sel.contains.append(ct.SelectorContains(tuple(patterns)))
         has_selector = True
         return has_selector
 
     def parse_pseudo_lang(self, sel, m, has_selector):
         """Parse pseudo language."""
 
-        lang = m.group('lang')
+        values = m.group('values')
         patterns = []
-        for token in RE_LANG.finditer(lang):
+        for token in RE_VALUES.finditer(values):
             if token.group('split'):
                 continue
             value = token.group('value')
diff --git a/soupsieve/css_types.py b/soupsieve/css_types.py
index b690d8f4..d426287a 100644
--- a/soupsieve/css_types.py
+++ b/soupsieve/css_types.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
     'SelectorNull',
     'SelectorTag',
     'SelectorAttribute',
+    'SelectorContains',
     'SelectorNth',
     'SelectorLang',
     'SelectorList',
@@ -234,6 +235,19 @@ def __init__(self, attribute, prefix, pattern, xml_type_pattern):
         )
 
 
+class SelectorContains(Immutable):
+    """Selector contains rule."""
+
+    __slots__ = ("text", "_hash")
+
+    def __init__(self, text):
+        """Initialize."""
+
+        super(SelectorContains, self).__init__(
+            text=text
+        )
+
+
 class SelectorNth(Immutable):
     """Selector nth type."""
 
@@ -324,6 +338,7 @@ def pickle_register(obj):
 pickle_register(SelectorNull)
 pickle_register(SelectorTag)
 pickle_register(SelectorAttribute)
+pickle_register(SelectorContains)
 pickle_register(SelectorNth)
 pickle_register(SelectorLang)
 pickle_register(SelectorList)
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index d810c924..c389870b 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -457,9 +457,9 @@ def test_copy_pickle(self):
         # We force a pattern that contains all custom types:
         # `Selector`, `NullSelector`, `SelectorTag`, `SelectorAttribute`,
         # `SelectorNth`, `SelectorLang`, `SelectorList`, `Namespaces`,
-        # and `CustomSelectors`.
+        # `SelectorContains`, and `CustomSelectors`.
         p1 = sv.compile(
-            'p.class#id[id]:nth-child(2):lang(en):focus',
+            'p.class#id[id]:nth-child(2):lang(en):focus:contains("text", "other text")',
             {'html': 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/'},
             custom={':--header': 'h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6'}
         )
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ def test_copy_pickle(self):
 
         # Test that we pull the same one from cache
         p2 = sv.compile(
-            'p.class#id[id]:nth-child(2):lang(en):focus',
+            'p.class#id[id]:nth-child(2):lang(en):focus:contains("text", "other text")',
             {'html': 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/'},
             custom={':--header': 'h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6'}
         )
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ def test_copy_pickle(self):
 
         # Test that we compile a new one when providing a different flags
         p3 = sv.compile(
-            'p.class#id[id]:nth-child(2):lang(en):focus',
+            'p.class#id[id]:nth-child(2):lang(en):focus:contains("text", "other text")',
             {'html': 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/'},
             custom={':--header': 'h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6'},
             flags=0x10
diff --git a/tests/test_extra/test_contains.py b/tests/test_extra/test_contains.py
index 5b68ddb4..09e146ed 100644
--- a/tests/test_extra/test_contains.py
+++ b/tests/test_extra/test_contains.py
@@ -66,6 +66,46 @@ def test_contains_quoted_with_escaped_newline_with_carriage_return(self):
             flags=util.HTML
         )
 
+    def test_contains_list(self):
+        """Test contains list."""
+
+        self.assert_selector(
+            self.MARKUP,
+            'body span:contains("does not exist", "that")',
+            ['2'],
+            flags=util.HTML
+        )
+
+    def test_contains_multiple(self):
+        """Test contains multiple."""
+
+        self.assert_selector(
+            self.MARKUP,
+            'body span:contains("th"):contains("at")',
+            ['2'],
+            flags=util.HTML
+        )
+
+    def test_contains_multiple_not_match(self):
+        """Test contains multiple with "not" and with a match."""
+
+        self.assert_selector(
+            self.MARKUP,
+            'body span:not(:contains("does not exist")):contains("that")',
+            ['2'],
+            flags=util.HTML
+        )
+
+    def test_contains_multiple_not_no_match(self):
+        """Test contains multiple with "not" and no match."""
+
+        self.assert_selector(
+            self.MARKUP,
+            'body span:not(:contains("that")):contains("that")',
+            [],
+            flags=util.HTML
+        )
+
     def test_contains_with_descendants(self):
         """Test that contains returns descendants as well as the top level that contain."""