What are the contextual links? Drupal 7 defines the "use contextual links" permission. Which links are defined as contextual links?
In Drupal 7, some modules supply contextual links that allow privileged users to quickly perform tasks that are related to regions of the page without navigating to the Admin Dashboard. For example, when you hover your mouse over a block or node, links are displayed that allow you to make changes to the block or node.

According to drupal.org.