Word
flown
US/ˈfɫoʊn/
UK/flˈəʊn/
Definitions
01traveled by air
v. the form of 'fly' used after 'have' or 'has' to talk about traveling in the air.
v. the past participle of the intransitive or transitive verb 'fly', used to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
“I have never flown in a helicopter before today.”
“By the time the storm reached the coast, the migratory birds had already flown south for the winter.”
Usage
Used with the auxiliary verb 'have' to form perfect tenses.
Pitfall
The river has flown over its banks.
The river has flowed over its banks.
Do not confuse 'flown' (from fly) with 'flowed' (from flow). Water flows; birds and planes fly.
Synonyms
02moved quickly
v. the form of 'fly' used to describe time or people moving very fast.
v. the past participle of 'fly' used figuratively to denote rapid motion or the perceived quick passage of time.
“The last two weeks have flown by so quickly.”
“The summer months had flown by in a blur of activity, leaving the students little time to prepare for their final examinations.”
Antonyms
03theatre scenery
adj. describes scenery that is hanging above a stage.
adj. describes scenery or equipment that has been raised into the flies (the space above the stage) using a rigging system.
“The heavy backdrop was flown out of sight during the scene change.”
“The production design featured several flown elements that descended from the grid to transform the stage into a forest.”
Technical
Usage
Often used in the passive voice or as a participial adjective.
Etymology
From Middle English flowen, floȝen, from Old English flogen, ġeflogen, past participle of Old English flēogan (“to fly”).
From Middle English flowen (attested in derived verbs such as overflowen), from Old English flōwen, ġeflowen, past participle of Old English flōwan (“to flow”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/flown