Masturbation, for you, is what you say it is of course. But for me, it's dick out, pump it up, and squirt a load of cum. When I was a kid, I had played with my hardon for several years before I shot my first cum. But after that, masturbation always had that cum release at the end.

Yes. Whether you're rubbing a dick or a pussy with your fingers, hands, tongue, lips or toys, its all masturbation.
It becomes SEX when you insert your dick in a pussy or an ass, if that's your thing.

But your logic is absurd: Putting a cock in an asshole is sex while putting your cock in a mouth is not.

Cum now.

If I'm playing with it or stroking it...it's masturbation. It doesn't have to lead to cumming.

Any self-stimulation for self pleasure probably masturbation. Rubbing it through jeans is more fondling, but still self-stimulation. Fucking a fleshlight is doing it for your own stimulation and pleasure -- fleshlight a substitute for your hand.

But mostly I think I'm masturbating if my hand is somehow directly touching my penis for self pleasure. Rubbing it, teasing it, stroking it, jerking it. Whether I cum or not this session. I'm deliberately making my penis feel good.

Masturbation rocks!

In that the defining event for me is ejaculation, I count anything with that result, including pressing up against a washing machine having an unbalanced spin cycle.

Agreed... but, sure don't mind when it does!...

For me masturbation is literally pleasuring yourself - stroking your penis, whether deep full-handed strokes along the whole shaft or just a very light teasing with the hand or against an object, with the defining aim of making it and you feel good and deeply pleasurable. For me is not the same as ejaculation and is not defined by ejaculation...though of course it can result in that and for many guys often does. I love ejaculation after masturbating, but I also love the wonderful orgasmic feelings i get in my penis throughout a long masturbating and edging session.

I think all the people commenting here are referring to solo sex. I agree with this attitude, but I see other people on other topics talk about masturbation with a partner, jacking off each other. Of course they are going through the motions of masturbation, so they think of it as masturbation, but it's somebody else's cock! To me that sounds like a gay act not masturbation.
And about fondling, giving your cock a little squeeze now & then, that seems like masturbation to me.
As several people said, there are gray areas around the definition of masturbation, just as there are gray areas around gay/straight and other sexual terms.

Even though playing with my cock and stroking feel absolutely wonderful, I think it's reaching orgasm and ejaculating that define it for me.

Pretty much. Jacking is stroking your cock, playing with yourself. The off part means shooting your wad. Jacking until you cum.

I think this is a very interesting distinction. I don't subscribe to it anymore with the understanding of how much I enjoy edging and also some guys will avoid cumming for days. Not that I could do that. heh.
When I was younger I had some hangups about masturbation: guilt, miseducation, etc. and would fool myself with the idea that, "well I didn't cum so it wasn't jacking off!

I try not to think about all those wasted opportunities to whack off when I thought it was something I shouldn't be doing.

It's simple.....massaging your genitals for pleasure is masturbation....doesn't matter if you cum or not.