Release candidate
A build considered potentially shippable that is undergoing final verification. If no blocking defects are found, the same build becomes the release without further changes. The discipline is that a release candidate is frozen: fixes create a new candidate rather than patching the existing one, so what gets tested is exactly what gets shipped.
A release candidate is a build that's considered shippable unless something disqualifies it, the burden of proof flips from "prove it's ready" to "find a reason it isn't." That framing is the point: it forces a clear, time-boxed verification window and a real go/no-go decision, rather than an indefinite drift toward "maybe next week." Each rejected candidate should produce a specific, fixable reason, not a vague "doesn't feel done."