Examine stone in date (5)
I believe the answer is:
tryst
'date' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'examine stone' is the wordplay.
'examine' becomes 'try' (trying is a kind of examining).
'stone' becomes 'st'.
'try'+'st'='TRYST'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tryst that I've seen before include "Secret assignment" , "meeting-place" , "An archaic lovers' meeting" , "Romantic assignation" , "Romantic rendezvous (literary)" .)