I think this sort of thing is a little bit less obvious than it could be due to the term "to hit", because the "to hit" roll is more than just making contact with the target with your weapon; it also includes the idea that you've hit the target well-enough to damage it.
Some versions of this game, and other games, go a bit farther with trying to model if, for example, your weapon hit the target's shield or his breastplate or whatever -- situations which in 5E would generally be 'misses'.
An entirely different layer of abstraction is in hit points, where it's not always entirely clear if hitting a guy with 200 hit points for 1 point of damage is actually some sort of physical contact or not.
So I think there's enough abstraction in the combat system to allow the sufficiently-motivated player to make just about any argument in terms of what's "sensible".
Or just ask the giant elk, assuming you can speak Giant Elk; he's got a pretty good grip on what's sensible around these parts.
Cheers,
Roger