Great question Ira!
The way I use it is pretty general, ‘an edge’ is ANY masturbation session where you don’t cum, simple as that. It’s great if you get to THE edge as part of that but as long as it feels good and makes you horny then from a denial perspective it’s purpose is served.
I’m also not a fan of counting every single time you get to THE edge as an edge – it varies from person to person. Some can hold themselves right on the edge of orgasm, others kind of bounce up and down to it. To level the playing field that all counts as a single edge in my mind.
If you’re going for some marathon edging session then the terms I usually set are that if you want to count numbers you have to have had a ten minute break between each edge to ‘cool down’ before you can start again and it counts as a new one.
So, if your goal is ‘four edges a day’ that means four separate times you stop what you’re doing and go and masturbate. If one or two of those are just a few minutes you can grab in the loo to rub your clit and feel good that still totally counts, although it’s definitely worth mixing in longer times where you can really enjoy that sublime feeling of getting so close to orgasm for as long as you can.