import re
p = re.compile(r'(?:(?<=^)|(?<=\s))' + '8' + r'(?=\s|$)', flags=re.IGNORECASE|re.M)
test_str = "nnn 8 8-88"
print re.search(p, test_str).group()
aW1wb3J0IHJlCiAgICAKcCA9IHJlLmNvbXBpbGUocicoPzooPzw9Xil8KD88PVxzKSknICsgJzgnICsgcicoPz1cc3wkKScsIGZsYWdzPXJlLklHTk9SRUNBU0V8cmUuTSkKdGVzdF9zdHIgPSAibm5uIDggOC04OCIKICAgICAKcHJpbnQgcmUuc2VhcmNoKHAsIHRlc3Rfc3RyKS5ncm91cCgp