A glut is when there's way too much of something, far more than anyone needs or wants. When farmers have an exceptionally good harvest and produce more tomatoes than stores can sell, that's a tomato glut. When toy stores order too many of last year's popular action figures and can't sell them all, they're stuck with a glut of unsold toys taking up shelf space.

The word suggests excess that creates problems. A glut usually means prices drop because there's so much supply that sellers have to lower prices just to move their products. During a glut of gasoline, for example, gas station prices might fall dramatically. But while lower prices help buyers, a glut can hurt producers who can't sell their goods for enough money to cover their costs.

You might hear about a glut of college graduates in a certain field, meaning too many people studied the same subject and now they're all competing for too few jobs. The opposite of a glut is a shortage, when there's not enough of something to meet demand. Understanding gluts and shortages helps explain why prices rise and fall in a market economy.