Can Medium creatures squeeze into smaller spaces?

Question

Here are the rules for "squeezing" from the SRD (the PHB text is identical; emphasis mine):

A creature can squeeze through a space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than it. Thus, a Large creature can squeeze through a passage that’s only 5 feet wide. While squeezing through a space, a creature must spend 1 extra foot for every foot it moves there, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it’s in the smaller space.

What does this mean for Medium-sized creatures? Small creatures take up the same amount of space in combat as medium creatures (5' x 5'), so by RAW it would seem that Medium creatures cannot squeeze.

But that doesn't seem right to me; after all, in real life people often fit into spaces that are 2.5' or less. Does "large enough for a creature" mean something other than the space occupied in combat?

Answer 1

Space doesn't only mean the area you physically inhabit in combat

An ogre isn't 10 feet tall by 10 feet wide, they simply command a 10 X 10 combat square area. It would have a penalty to Dex moving through a 5 foot wide square because it can't effectively dodge when the walls are brushing up on its sides.

This is the same for Medium and Small creatures, who command a 5 X 5 square. They don't command that area because they're that big, they command it because they're actively engaged in combat inside of it and moving within it.

Basically, you've equated combat squares with obstacles to movement in general.

For example: A space large enough for a Medium creature to move freely through would be a standard door. However an ogre would need to squeeze through because they're wider and taller than a standard door.

So when you're looking at a Medium creature squeezing through a Small creature's opening, it's akin to an average person trying to move through a crawl space. While the Small creature would be able to do it easily, the Medium creature would need to squeeze.

For example, I ran a game with a bunch of Small creatures pestering the party and retreating to bolt holes with an opening that would only accommodate small creatures. That means the opening isn't 5 feet wide. By squeezing rules, a party member of medium size could have traversed the tunnels, albeit slowly and at significant disadvantage. Whereas the enemies could freely move and attack using the tunnels for cover and being an extreme and persistent annoyance.

Answer 2

As written, a medium creature can squeeze through a space that a small creature doesn't have to squeeze through- in practice, this means a medium creature cannot squeeze.