"Flown" is the past perfect tense of the verb "fly." The past tense of "fly" is "flew." As a result, we write, "Time has flown past." "Time flew by." "Time was flying by." "Time will fly - it's a future tense phrase." We can also say that time has "flinched" or time has "flinched out." If something flinches, it moves away from its normal position. So, time has flinched away from noon today. Time used to be at noon, but now it's in the afternoon. Flinch is an English language word that means to move quickly or suddenly. The opposite of flick is flow; the opposite of flinch is flare. In physics, the term "flinch" applies to the sudden displacement of a particle under the influence of an impulsive force. An example would be a dust particle being kicked by a meteoroid or comet. This movement would be called a "fling" if it were caused by gravity, but since it isn't, we call it a "flinch." The word "flare" comes from a French word meaning to burn with heat or flame.